Design Clinic: Box van graphics

I know what you are thinking. But, no—I did not make this one up. This is as real as it gets, from a Polaroid photo I snapped quite a while back.

When situations like this come my way, it startles me at first to think that vehicles like this travel around town advertising a business with such visual negativity. Does this lettering work at all? Maybe. But it doesn’t create any positive appeal.

Before I move ahead here, let me cover one aspect that needs to be qualified first. Could this look have been created intentionally? Maybe to create the “cheap” look to attract clients who are looking for a low-priced or budget-oriented carpet/tile source? I know plenty of businesses that try their hardest to have a look that portrays the “we-do-things-for-less” message! Remember when marketers used black text on white packaging that just said CEREAL or SOAP? No extras, no frills. Generic graphics were supposed to mean cheaper prices.